"Can I wear my StormTrooper costume for the picture?"

This week was superrrrrr bien. We definitely saw a lot more of the fruits of our labors this past week. Even though last week was hard and we didn't see too much success initially, it was still fun because Elder Curtis and I get along really well, so that makes a huge difference on the hard days.  

To start, we set a baptismal date for Benito for the 28th of August. It seemed like it would be a little too soon, but he accepted it and is willing to work towards it. He's already read 3 chapters in the Book of Mormon, and came to church yesterday and really liked it.

We were able to teach the Zabala family the Restoration on Monday night and it was so good. The two daughters were naming off the books of The Book of Mormon, so the family is definitely familiar with The Gospel. We committed them to baptism when they know that this is all true and they all firmly committed. I talked to the dad yesterday at church and he said he feels good whenever he comes. He is going to Venezuela and then later to the Middle East for some job training for about a month, so that's kind of a bummer, but he said he's bringing his Book of Mormon with him so he can still read. We got his permission to still teach his two daughters, so we'll still go over to his house, but we'll probably hold off setting a baptismal date with them until the dad returns.

On Friday we were out knocking doors and it was almost time to head back to our apartment. We knocked on the door of a guy who wasn't super interested, but we saw a Star Wars calendar on his wall and asked if he liked Star Wars. He told us yeah, and to come in. So we did, and wow, this guy had hundreds of Star Wars things which included a bunch of ships, many action figures, and several costumes. He apparently made a lot of these things because he welds. I'll attach pictures below but it was pretty sick.

Alright, take it easy, wherever you are. Hope you have a great week!

Elder Josh Barrus

I'm so grateful to have a car with A.C.

6 Months!

August 1, 2016

Jeffrey served with us this week.

I can't believe I've already been out 6 months. We had a mini-missionary with us this week named Jeffrey and he's been a lot of fun to have around. And, since he's a native Hispanic, he's been able to teach Elder Curtis and me lots of Spanish. He's 21 and currently attending college here in Texas and his family is from Guatemala. Coming into the week he wasn't really sure if he wanted to serve a mission, but he was willing to give it a try and see how he felt about it. He's had a good attitude, even when it's hot out knocking doors and no one seems to want to listen. By the end of the week he decided that he will serve a mission after the school year next spring. He will be the first missionary to serve in his family because his parents are converts. 

Jeffrey discovered that missionary work never stops...

...and wears you out.

But we had a great time!

Anyway, this week was pretty rough. We spent a lot of time knocking doors and asking members for referrals to seemingly no avail. However, on Thursday we received a member referral, and the family we visited was a part member family that just arrived from Venezuela. The mom was baptized when she was 15, but has been inactive for awhile. We didn't have a ton of time with them, but we invited them to church and they came and really liked it. We are going to have a family home evening with them tonight and talk about eternal families. We are pretty excited for them. 

On Sunday we had 5 investigators come to church, which made it nice to see some of the fruits of our hard work. Later on Sunday, one of our buddies named Benito from English Class called us up and wanted to play soccer because he was bored. We told him we can't play soccer on Sunday, but that we could teach him about what we do as missionaries. He agreed, and we ended up teaching him the restoration, and it was a super good lesson. He teared up a little bit at the end because he felt the spirit really strongly. I guess the elders have been trying to teach him for a few months but now he's finally willing to give the Gospel a try. 

It's been a very uplifting end to the week. It is amazing to see the desires people have to change their lives according to the will of God. I was reading in the Book of Alma chapter 42 this week and came across something that stuck out to me:

30 O my son, I desire that ye should deny the justice of God no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in humility.

As we accept our faults rather than justify them, we allow God to come into our lives and change our nature, rather than just our behavior. As we let Him in, He is able to show us how we can improve in order to be happy and feel peace.

The whole Santizo family

Look at these great soccer jerseys we found at the flea market!

Katy is 🔥

July 24, 2016 Email

What's going on everyone? I'm in my first week in Katy serving in the Westgreen ward after getting transferred from The Woodlands and it's been pretty rad so far.

The area is pretty wealthy, but there's tons of Hispanics still, so it's a good balance. A lot of the members are from Venezuela, so they definitely speak a different type of Spanish, but it's all good. My new companion is Elder Curtis from Gilbert, Arizona and he's a stud!

It's really nice. Here we have a food appointment every single night. It's interesting how some Hispanic women take much joy in people, especially missionaries, eating their food, and lots of it. 

Yeah. I have always had a car on my mission, but here we drive a 2016 Corolla that only has 2000 miles on it, a lot different than the Chevy Cruze we drove in Woodlands.  

We got some good work done this week. The APs committed us to get 40 missionary commitments (inviting other people to do missionary work) because this is an area that traditionally hasn't seen a lot of success come from knocking. So the real success will come from getting member referrals. We have meal appointments every night, so we have really focused on encouraging them to do some missionary work. What has seemed to work best is to describe how hot it is when we knock doors for hours and how we face a lot of rejection. And then to really top it off we show them some eye-popping statistics:

-In the U.S. missionaries are able to baptize 1 in 1000 of the people they meet in their personal contacting.
-When the missionaries use your name to meet and teach your friends, they can baptize 80 in 1000, or 8 percent.
-When you personally introduce the missionaries to your friends and let them teach them, they can baptize 340 in 1000, or 34%.
-When you introduce the missionaries to your friends and let them teach your friends in your home, they are able to baptize 660 in 1000, or 66 percent of them.

So it just goes to show how important the members are in missionary work. If members and missionaries will work in unity great things will happen, which is the vision we are sharing with the ward right now. We've already received 3 referrals and are really excited to see the miracles that will come.

Anyways, if you're still reading this, you might as well go ahead and send me an email or mail me something because I'd love to hear from y'all! Address is below:

24949 Katy Ranch Rd. #517 

Katy, TX 77494

~Elder Josh Barrus

We visited Willian on my last night in The Woodlands, he served a mission in Honduras,

 so he decided to dress up like us for the night. He's the man though, 

anytime we visit him he teaches us because he knows a lot of deep doctrine. 

New Zone

Night sky in Texas

Night sky in Texas

Transfers are Coming!

We had one of those weeks that really tries your patience, as well as your persistence. There were a fair amount of potential investigators that we visited, who ended up flaking out, so I’m thinking of only eating Corn Flakes every day this week to celebrate!

It's pretty sad to think that so many good people who are members of other faiths are so stuck on the Bible being the only revelation that God has given to man throughout all of time. Modern day revelation is so important. Noah received revelation for his day to build an ark to prepare for the great flood, but that revelation wouldn't have been relevant in the time of Isaiah or Moses, because they received revelation for their day. Obviously we still read and cherish these stories in The Bible because there are things that we can learn from and they can help strengthen our faith in God.

Also, to go along with this rant, I would like to talk about the Pharisees and Sadducees that are so frequently referenced in the New Testament. These were men who were very knowledgeable with the Old Testament scriptures, obeyed the law of Moses with exactness, and imposed consequences for violations of it within Jewish society strictly. Well, when Jesus came to earth and told others he was the Son of God, the Pharisees and Sadducees accused him of blasphemy and sought to prosecute him to the fullest extent the law would allow.

There are many instances in which these rulers attempted to accuse Jesus of breaking a rule. But they didn't understand that those same scriptures prophesied many times of His coming, and they were reluctant to accept a living prophet and continuing revelation. 

We had a lesson with a potential investigator on Thursday that was pretty interesting. One of the first questions this guy throws at me is "So, when were you saved?" I wanted to respond that I along with all other mankind was saved when Jesus Christ performed the Atonement
back in 33 AD, but instead talked a little bit about my experience about the divine witness I have received that the Book of Mormon is true, and also how grateful I am for the Savior's atoning sacrifice and the opportunity I have to repent and strive each day to become
like Him. 

He responded with "Well we disagree on a few things there" and proceeded to list a few differences in our beliefs that caused me to think. First he said that one time he talked with a Mormon who said that one day "he would have his own universe and become like God." He told me that, there is no one higher than God, and I replied that we both agree on that. Then I asked him who he understood God to be, and he responded with the usual "The creator of the universe, a higher power, omnipotent, etc." Then I asked him if he's ever heard the phrase "We are children of God." He replied that he had not, so I shared Romans 8:16-17, which reads:

 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together.

He didn't really seem to understand too well and didn't seem to care too much about the message of the restoration, but it made me ponder how sad some of the modern day Christianity beliefs are. As prophesied in the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 4:27-28 when God is telling the children of Israel that they will be scattered:

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be
left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and
stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

We live in these times prophesied of, where people worship a God who is "unknowable, without parts or passions." God wants us to be like Him, and because His joy is full, he too desires that we partake of that same joy ourselves. So seek Him, and you will find Him. He has promised it, and He never breaks His promises. Anyways, for those of you who are still here, you should go eat a Snickers bar or something to reward yourself for enduring this behemoth of an email.

Pina preparada

Some places here have items on their menus such as "Piña preparada" which is a pineapple that is filled with fruit and ice cream and it's glorious. The only thing that was disappointing was the fact that they smothered the thing in spicy chile chamoya sauce. (On a kind of related note, Hispanics put chile powder on everything, fruit and candy included.)

Good barbecue is definitely something I can appreciate. I've only had barbecue twice since coming here. I eat with members on an average of about 3 or 4 times a week. It's really nice, especially when they make Argentine food.It is fantastic! Also, it gives Hispanic women so much joy when missionaries or others come eat their food and lots of it, which I fully approve of (even if it's making me fat).

On another note, both Elder Heiner and I are being transferred tomorrow. We don't know where, so I'll let you know next week. 

Have a great week!

~Elder Josh Barrus

The district in black and white

Happy 7-Eleven!

There are some pretty country areas here in The Woodlands

I think there's only one 7-11 in the entire city of Houston, and I'm pretty sure it's out of our area, so we will probably miss Free Slurpee Day.

This was definitely one of those weeks that was a difficult one based off of the statistical results, but nonetheless edifying and satisfying. We did have to drop a bunch of investigators this past week because they just could not find time to meet with us, so that’s kind of sad.

Irma and Yaderi had a really hard week. The adversary has been working on them hard, and it definitely has been a trial of their faith. We just tried our best to reassure them and encourage them to read the Book of Mormon so that God can help them as they continuously show their faith.

Every Thursday morning we go up to Conroe to get some Family History training from the Stake specialist up there, so I do some indexing. Also, there’s a sister in our district who is really good at family history, so she’s been helping learn how to do it and I’m getting pretty good at it!

Here’s a great quote by Richard L Evans I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:

     "Our Father in heaven is not an umpire who is trying to count us out.
     He is not a competitor who is trying to outsmart us. He is not a
     prosecutor who is trying to convict us. He is a loving Father who
     wants our happiness and eternal progress, and who will help us all he
     can if we will but give him in our lives an opportunity to do so.”

With so many misconceptions on the nature of God, I just wish everyone knew how loving and merciful he is. He wants us to repent and change. He wants us to be happy. We just have to let Him help us. 

Emmanuel's Baptism in H3

Emmanuel's family at his baptism

Exchanges with Elder Pogroeszewski

~Elder Josh Barrus

It's All Good in the Wood(lands)

Zone Fourth of July Picture

Hey everyone.

This week in the mission we did some missionary work. It was really rewarding and we were really blessed to only have one guy tell us to get off his porch while out knocking on doors. #TenderMercies

We actually set 2 baptismal dates for the 30th of July on Saturday night with Irma and Yaderi. They are super prepared, we are really excited for them.

We had to drop Pablo because he wasn't progressing, but he'll come around with time.

This time of year is the time of year in which a good amount of people give us water bottles throughout our day, if it weren't for them we would probably suffer from dehydration.

Have a good week!

Elder Barrus

Zone Fourth of July Picnic

Splits with Elder Oliviera from Brazil

Splits

Church is in the Heart

Elder Barrus, Noel, Elder Heiner. Noel has an amazing conversion story!

Qué onda todos? (What's up everybody?)  If you are in a dry climate, I hope you are appreciating the dry heat instead of the humidity of a tropical rain forest (which coincidentally, is exactly what it feels like right now).

The work is on an upward climb here in the Woodlands 3rd Ward. Yesterday we had 4 investigators attend church, which was really nice because it was ward conference and we had some exceptional speakers from the stake come and light up the pulpit with the Spirit and inspiring messages.

Two of the investigators that came have some promising potential. The first is Hugo. Hugo has been an investigator for awhile and had a baptismal date about a year ago, but he and his girlfriend were not married and she didn't really want to get married, so he was dropped. He's read in the Book of Mormon all the way to Alma and has a really good understanding of the story and how he can learn and receive revelation from it.

The second is Hugo's sister Caty. She just arrived a few months ago from Guatemala and she's staying with Hugo. She already has a good understanding of the scriptures, and has committed to read the Book of Mormon, so we're excited for her. You can pray for Pablo, Irma, Yaderi, Mayela, Gerardo, Miguel, Hugo, and Caty. All of these investigators have lots of potential, so your prayers are definitely appreciated. :)

This week we are planning on setting four baptismal dates. We are going to give all of them covenant path calendars, which will help them visualize their goal of baptism and going to the temple, and what steps need to be taken in order for them to feel ready to make those sacred covenants.

In the second hour of church yesterday, a member of the Stake Presidency taught our Gospel Essentials class--three investigators and us missionaries, and it was beyond inspiring. First he got to know all of the investigators, and then he figured out that all of them came from similar backgrounds. They had all immigrated to the United States fairly recently and so they were working on adjusting to the culture and the language. Then he showed us a couple scriptures in the Book of Mormon that talk about how this land (The Americas) is a promised and chosen land, and that if those who live here strive to keep God's commandments, they will prosper.

He then proceeded to tell his story, about how he came to the United States when he was 15 from Mexico with no family, no money, no education, and he didn't speak a lick of English. He talked about his struggles, about how it took him a long time to learn English, about how he didn't do very well in school, but also how much he relied on the Lord in these difficult times. He read and pondered the scriptures every day. He prayed, and trusted that God would help him. He decided to consecrate himself and serve a mission and he had a wonderful experience. When he came home, he could see how the Lord started opening doors for him  little by little that allowed him to see the fruits of his labors. Soon, he graduated from BYU, got married, and had a nice career. Now, he is in a management in a company where he is in charge of 17 people, and he is so grateful to Heavenly Father for the experiences he's had and the blessings he's received. He is a living testament that God really can turn us into someone we never thought possible, if we will only let him. I felt the Spirit so strong, and I know that our investigators did too. 

I want to challenge y'all to share the Gospel with at least one person this week, and bear testimony as to how it has changed and blessed your life. Sometimes we have fear of man more than fear of God, but it was the fear of man that prohibited the Israelites from being able to enter the promised land for 40 years. So don't risk having to wander in the wilderness, share the Gospel with someone who needs it.

Elder Barrus

As a zone we wrote down the negative things we had heard or thought about our
areas, then buried them, symbolizing that we will bury our weapons of rebellion and
doubt and that we will  have the faith necessary to see miracles in our zone.